Don't Just Invited God Into The building, Invited Him Into The Breaking

​I am sure when I got married I knew God wanted to be a part of my married life. When my marriage broke, I didn't feel nearly as sure that God wanted much to do with my broken marriage life.

I am sure when we had our boys, I knew God wanted to be a part of my journey as a dad. When I've had my moments of looking like a broken dad, and I have had a few, I haven't felt nearly as sure that God's wanted to be a part of my broken dad journey.

When I have committed to address unhealthy habits and addictions in my life, I have felt God right by my side saying we've got this. When I've fallen off the wagon is those pursuits, I have felt at times like God jumped off that wagon too.

Steven Furtick says we too often "put our faith in the faith and not in the God who gave us the faith."

When we build something, when we tackle something new or challenging in life, it's easy to have faith this is going to work. It's easy to believe this is going to be a blessing to me and to all. But when it starts to fail, and we start to lose our faith, it's possible what we had with us was actually confidence in self and not faith in God.

God isn't confined to building. God isn't limited to success and winning streaks. God also shows up in the breaking. Shoot, God's SPECIALTY might be showing up in the breaking.

I know sometimes it doesn't feel that way. Breaking feels like broken which can feel like NO ONE is here with me. But maybe that's because we're more prone to invite God into our building projects than we are into our projects that are falling apart.

Maybe we're more prone to invite God onto the wagon and not into the falling off.

I guess that's the point. God loves invitations. Maybe we feel more comfortable inviting God into the "let's do this" stories than we do inviting God into the "that just fell all apart" stories.

But that is an us thing, because God wants invited into it all. God doesn't see our lives as win or lose - God sees our lives as something to love and to hold and to treasure.

Building or breaking.

God is never an invitation we need to consider but one that serves us well to ALWAYS extend. No matter what.

If in this new year things start to feel like they aren't going your way, and you get tempted to believe God isn't there in the breaking, before you believe that, ask yourself, how strongly have I invited God into this breaking?

What's the old Field of Dreams line - if you build it they will come?

Well, that's God. He will come if you build it. But if it happens to break in the building, or if no one shows up once it's built, well God will come for that too.

Don't invite faith into your life. Invite the God who gave it to you.